A Little Picture Update...

Hello friends! I finally found my camera cord and would love to share a little of our summer through photos. I hope you enjoy!

Here is Kaitlyn & I enjoying the Taylor Swift/Keith Urban Concert! Before the show, we were blessed with the opportunity to meet Keith Urban!! He hugged her and said "Hey Beautiful, what do you wanna hear tonight?" To which, she very promptly replied "Taylor Swift". Ohhh, the joys of innocent childhood. :)

My future neices, Rachelle & Kristina came to the concert with us. We had so much fun!

We had a great time with our dear family friends: Jenny, Mike, Emma & Aiden at the 4th of July at the Red, White, & Boom Celebration Downtown

The 4th of July was a rainy and kind of chilly day here in Iowa (notice our sweatshirts and jeans!) But, we have a long-standing tradition to have dinner as a family and enjoy the fireworks - this year was no exception

Who's counting?

I AM

283 days until the wedding!

It seems so far away, but I know it's not. I am anxious and excited. I am nervous and stressed. But more than anything, I am so very thankful that God has given me such an amazing man to share this journey with. :)

How's your mom?

So last week, I received an email from a student's mother. It essentially informed me that she would be having surgery and would not be at home for the next couple of days and requested that I give her student a little extra attention if necessary. (As a teacher, I always appreciate these little heads up's)

So, the next morning, I am very proud of myself for remembering, and ask the student "How's mom?" He says,with a completely serious face, "Oh, she's fine. She just had to have her baby maker taken out".

Honestly. I couldn't even find the words to respond to that, nor could I muster up the ability to not crack a grin. It was so adorable and yet so inappropriate all at the same time. Just goes to show you, you should always be careful how much information to share with your children, because they will ALWAYS repeat it to the exact people you don't want them to.

Have a terrific Tuesday! :)

A little gem from school this week...

Student A chews up a piece of chicken from school lunch and decides it would be a funny idea to place said chicken in Student B's hair. Student B flicks it out of his hair onto the floor. Student A naturally picks the chicken up off the floor and places it back into his mouth, chews it up some more, and places it in Student C's hair. Student C freaks out, flicks the chicken out of his hair and immediately reports the situation to me. I stare at Student A in disbelief and inform him how completely revolting his behavior is to me. To which he responds, "Can you just kick me out of here yet?"

Student A, you are awesome. You increase my patience and my dependence on prayer to get through the day.

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is why I LOVE MY JOB.

Hello, Old Friends!

Ok, I'll admit, I slacked off again. But...I do have what I would consider to be a few VERY good reasons:

1) I was enjoying my last month of summer with my family
2) I was trying to get my classroom ready to go back to school
3) I went back to school August 5th (TOO EARLY!)
4) The studio choreography kept me extremely busy this summer
...and perhaps the best reason of all...
5) I WAS PLANNING A WEDDING!

Yep, it's true, I got engaged over the summer! Kevin and I are planning a June 5th wedding and I knew if I didn't get as much done as possible before I went back to work - it would never get done on time! I have my dress, I have the church, reception hall, photographer, florist, caterer, and DJ booked. I have chosen the bridal party attire, I have an idea for a cake, I have flowers picked out, I have a hair style in mind, invitations designed in my head - I'm pretty much set to go...and I've been engaged for just over a month.

Many people have told me I should just go into the business of event planning. Here's the secret though...I really don't like to make decisions, at least not big ones like this! My family kids that I have a small bit of O.C.D. in me and I'm beginning to think that might just be true. I'm not silly enough to believe that all of our guests will remember the small details of the day - but I WILL...and I want them to be perfect...or as close to it as I can get.

Over the next few months, I will be posting pictures and various details of the wedding planning process and am looking forward to seeing your comments or ideas!

In the meantime, enjoy this beautiful day and have a great weekend!

Much Love,
Katie :)

Tante T

I've mentioned before (here) how much I adore my nephew. He is such an amazing little human and I get more amazed with him each day as he grows.

Tonight, we were sitting at dinner and out of nowhere he says, "Tante, I tan tome to your house tonight?"

I should pause here to explain why he calls me what he calls me. When he was very small, he had a hard time saying Katie, so he would just shorten it to "T". After he got that down, it became "Aunt T", and now "Tante T". Tante is the German word for Aunt. In our family, our German heritage is very, very important. My sister, cousins, and aunts and uncles grew up calling their grandparents "Oma" and "Opa" - the German translation for grandma and grandpa. When I was little, not only did I have an Oma (my Opa died before I was born), but I had a "second Oma" - we lovingly referred to her as Tante Elsie, or just plain Tante.

She was the sweetest woman with such a dry sense of humor and the most loving and warm smile you could ever see. Her home was a warm and inviting place that always smelled of delicious foods and whatever fresh-cut flowers she might have in a beautiful crystal vase on her end table. I remember her as a woman who was never-tiring and always on-the-go...baking, wrapping, cooking, or tidying up her remarkably spotless home. However busy she was though, I always felt like the most important part of her day. No matter what she was doing, she would stop the moment I walked in the door, put whatever she was busy doing down and sit to ask "how are things going sweetie?" And not one single time that I left her house did she let me leave without a big hug, a kiss, and a "come back and visit me again soon". And that, I did.

So, Sam now calls me "Tante T" or sometimes, if he's in a hurry - just plain "Tante". And each and every single time, I say a little prayer that I can fill such big shoes.

"Tante, I tan tome to your house tonight?", I sent up my little prayer, put down my fork and said, "I would love nothing more than for you to come to my house tonight, Sam." Exactly what my Tante would have said, I hope.

Back to school I go...

I am officially a graduate student. I went through the entire paper-filling-out process, the loan application process, the loan acceptance process, the "will you please write me a letter of recommendation process", the waiting process, and finally the "congratulations, you've been accepted process". I then took a trip down memory lane as I pulled my car into the St. Ambrose University parking lot...haven't done that in a good 4 years. I took a deep breath and walked into the old familiar University Bookstore. I quickly remembered the smells and the adorable memoribilia in that store. I quickly remembered how to locate my books for the 2 classes I will be taking this summer. I quickly remembered where the checkout was. What I did not so quickly remember was how freaking expensive these dumb books are! ((Adult Life Lesson #326: Things are always far more expensive when it is your own money, rather than your parents...)) Yesh. $168.50 later, I was walking out with the THREE books needed for my summer course load.

After returning from this little adventure to the bookstore, I logged onto our on-line campus bulletin board/email system. Haven't done that in quite awhile either (as a funny side note, my student ID information is the same as it was when I was undergrad), once logged in I find my first course's syllabus. Now, this course is entitled "Visioning and School Administration: The School as a Professional Learning Community" - YIKES. So, I open the file, only to find out that it is a hefty 24 pages of reading pleasure. Perfect. I read on to find out that in the course of this 9 day class, there will be many papers, presentations, and much reading due. Excellent.

So, I am officially a graduate student. And I am officially terrified.

I am certain I will make it through, and I am even more certain that I will be a better teacher and someday a strong leader because of this coursework. But for right now, I'm just simply terrified.

Back to school I go.